The Glass Box for Friday
The Glass Box is the place where you can comment on what you heard on PM, interact with other listeners and get responses from the people who make the programme. This is proving to be a useful tool for us, and we hope, for you.
Just click on the "comment" link. If you've never commented on the Blog before - don't worry. There's a simple registration process you only have to go through once.
Don't worry either if you didn't catch the whole programme, or were busy doing other things and not giving us your full attention. If there was something that "caught your ear" we want to hear about it.
The Glass Box is named after the booth outside the PM studio where we all discuss the programme at 18.00 every weeknight. We try to be honest and constructive. Sometimes there is criticism, and the criticised get a chance to explain themselves.
And so it should be here. The people who make PM will read the comments posted, and will sometimes respond. Unless it's Roger Sawyer editing. He's completely hopeless.
Please feel free to post your thoughts. There is a link to previous Glass Boxes on the right.
Also on the right, you'll find lots of other links you might like. The Furrowed Brow for example is the venue where you can start talking about anything serious: The Beach (there's one just below this entry) is a fun place, and there are links to Blog entries with photos, audio and links.
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....looking forward to a plain bob double tonight.....ever hopeful
Eric, you are horrid to poor Roger. I bet he's a delightful man.
;o)
I'm just waiting to hear that George W Bush has been elected President of Scotland........
Dingaling, Detective Inspector Wyman (1)!
Great recovery, Sean, when someone played Rodhri Morgan in the middle of your report on the Scottish Elections! Worth of Le May-er soi-meme.
But could the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ find no Scottish-sounding reporters to cover this?
Fifi
Far too much emphasis put on Scotland - You got it wrong again!
This is probably a non-glassbox issue, but I notice that you're advertising the lovely Sony prize in the banner at the top of the page. Unfortunately, I can't see half of the words "winner" or "programme" - is this me, or did you only really win half a Sony?
;-)
Well, to be honest I think that going into the second half-hour, still talking about the elections is pushing it a bit. Yes, the elections were important enough to cover 30 minutes when you factor in the voting problems in Scotland, but I think 30 minutes would've been enough. There's a lot more happening in the world today that should be covered (The UN Climate Change summit, the Iran comments on US policy in Iraq, The US Middle-East plan, etc) that's been pushed aside....
Tend to agree - does all other news just stop - !
Who is this 'Chris Goatee' who's sending in emails to PM now?
Someone needs to explain how 'Ghoti' is prounounced 'Fish' by those wot no wurdz.
Fifi ;oD
I disagree slightly with you there David (5). And yes, I know I'm a Scot but we ARE all still part of the Union...
Scotland's not a region, it's a nation united with England and Wales. It has a comparatively small population but it's still entitled to proper coverage of its national election.
Particularly when it's been so badly constructed that a goodly proportion of votes are effectively 'wasted'. Imagine if it subsequently happened in England, and the lessons hadn't been learnt?
Let's not fall out over this David ... but I think we may need to agree to disagree over what constitutes 'proper coverage'.
I say the balance was spot-on. Particularly as so many of the English county results (including mine) weren't in when PM went on air.
Fifi ;o)
Compliments to Carolyn for her interviews at Westminster - managed to 'engage' well with Alan Johnston and bring him out, without raising his hackles.
Perhaps this is the way forward for interviews? Talking together as equals?
Lord Rooker says that the EU is right to ban mercury use in barometers, as "mercury is highly toxic and has no safe exposure limit".
Can he then explain why NHS dentists are compelled to use mercury amalgam in peoples mouths, when safe alternatives exist ?
Just heard Geoff Rooker in typical eurofanatic mode, attempting to justify the EU ban on using mercury for aneroid barometers. Mercury is highly toxic we're told.
Yes of course it is, but the amount used by the small industry of barometer makers, is trivial.
But why oh why didn't you question him about the mercury contained within all the energy effiicient light bulbs the government is imploring us to buy, and indeed making it virtually mandatory by saying they will seek to phase out the standard tungsten filament bulbs?
That's the real story about mercury. How long before say a small child suffers health problems, when they eat that nice silver stuff that has spilled out of that object their mother has just broken by dropping it on the floor?
Mercury. Toxic enough that firefighters fear the vaporised contents of barometers and thermometers in the home. Did anyone have a nice dentist like mine in the 1950s who would drop a pearl of the magic silver onto my pudgy palm and allow me to play with it while the 'electric mouse' drilled my teeth. The mercury would roll around, break up and reform and the game ended when it finally disintegrated and disappeared into my skin.
My mummy took me to the nice dentist every six months. I'm still here, obviously, but for how long?
Fifi: It's a G.B. Shaw thing to do with English pronunciation.
gh as in laugh
o as in women
ti as in notion
Geddit?
Oh, sorry, Feefs, I realise now what you mean - I'm a bit thick today ...... (OK, a bit thick every day)
Richard (13) Don't joke about that! My daughter bit the end off our thermometer when she was about 2 years old. She is now almost 21 years old and to the best of my knowledge has suffered no ill effects. How would I know? How long should we give it before we declare her mercury-free?
Er... took a while to get to Guto and Wales. Maybe that was cos of the mix-up commented on earlier.
I know Wales isn't regarded as, er, 'sexy'. But it's a nation, just as Scotland is.
Grouse, grumble
Hi FiFi,
thought you were still at the beach, just popped over here looking for my sheep.
Gillian (13), does she grow taller on hot days?
if not, guess you can call the all clear.
Gillian; (15)
Little Willy, from his mirror
Licked the mercury right off.
Thinking, in his childish error,
It would cute the whooping cough.
At his funeral, his mother
Smartly said to Mrs. Brown:
“T’was a chilly day for Willy
When the mercury went down
Just heard Geoff Rooker in typical eurofanatic mode, attempting to justify the EU ban on using mercury for aneroid barometers
Sorry, Richard (13), it's an EU ban on the manufacture of new Mercury barometers, as the alternative, aneroid barometers are readily available. Actually, I prefer to use my Barograph (a recording aneroid barometer) than the circular aneroid barometer, as you can see the triend far more clearly.
But agree with others, I have two mercury amalgam fillings in my teeth, I've broken mercury thermometers (and I have a few more, rather specialised ones) etc. But I also keep flowers of sulphur to mop up any spill.
The mercury in the flourescent tubes is a low pressure vapour. While the strip lights that you know of contain about 2% mercury by weight, a modern incandescent replacement "high energy" bulb should contain less than 5mg of mercury.
Does this mean that firefighters will no longer fight a fire in a building unless it's lit by incandescents only???
What is this 'blocking my comments' appparently due to continual and abusive posting to the Glass Box? I have NEVER posted ,essages to it and it is weeks since I was on any ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ message board. So you SYSTEM is 'up th creek'.
Surely Lord Rooker bends the truth when he claims Aneroid Barometers to be more accurate than Mercury Barometers - If the PM presenters had a smidgin of science they might have challenged this claim.
After listening to the first 15 minutes with Scotland being the leading story I still had no indication about how the rest of the UK was fairing. I switched over to Five Live which had much more balance.
To give this much news coverage to a country which has it's own Radio stations and a population just over five million is poor judgement.
For non -Scot's (the majority) - most of us don't give a flying kilt what goes on north of the border. Having said that I happen to like the presentation style and accent of the man in the current PM chair.
Richard (21),
Thanks for making that point, I was going to make it but got diverted by the light bulb issue. Most aneroid barometers are far from accurate, and don't really claim to be. My barograph appears to be pretty good, having calibrated it against the NPL's on-line version (I live close by). NPL appear to use an electronic sensor for their on-line barograph - following Ed I's method of posting a link, remove the "aitc" -
aitchttps://www.npl.co.uk/pressure/pressure.html
but the national standard is, to quote the NPL a fully automated instrument [which] is essentially a mercury-filled Inconel U-tube of 110 mm internal diameter ...
As for Lord Rooker, I knew about these regulations a long time ago. So, I imagine, would the manufacturers. I wonder if they *really* did not respond at all.
that man again (20),
We all suffer that all the time. I find that if you go back (using the back button at the top of the browser, not the link offered on the page), your writings will return, make a small change, and usually all will be well when you submit again.
Blah. My car radio is Dee Ee Dee DED and I didn't hear this evening's programme. They been reading out something I ranted about or something?
If so, life unfair to fish. Listen every day, miss fourteen minutes....
(spits several pebbles in a peevish manner)
(Well, nobody can tell when a fish pouts crossly: fish *always* look as if they were pouting.)
First time I tried to post this I got a page that started
Can't load error template; got error 'Loading template 'error
and went on for quite a while. I wonder what I or it did wrong -- but at least it didn't think I was malicious :-)
GLASS BOX COMMENT
On this blog, there are "Recent Entries", and "Recent Comments". Since people, like myself, go back and forth, could we also have a "Current Entry" linking to the latest thread, so we can link back there as well?
Richard (24):
most of us don't give a flying kilt what goes on north of the border.
Yes, we noticed. From wall-to-wall coverage of London-specific "news" like the expansion of the congestion charge a while back, to Radio 2 weather forecasts giving a lot of detail about London and the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Counties and a vague mention of "cloudy in the north" wherever that is, those of us in flying-kilt-land are well used to being sidelined and ignored in the media.
For once we're getting a bit of coverage about a political development that will change the landscape of our nation's politics and - depending on what happens coalition-wise over the weekend - could greatly affect your nation and the entire future of the UK.
Thanks Eddie and team for giving this event a reasonable amount of coverage.
Frances O (18):
Actually, I believe Wales is a Principality rather than a nation, just like Monaco but with nicer weather. ;o)
hi y'all just popped over from the beach, just to let you know that mit sheep has been located.....so don't panic.
must go Flotsam & Jetsam are gigging tonight and i need to get my spot in the dunes sorted
Ah, my comment helping "that man again" has also been blocked.
Since I'm just back, plus ca change, plus ca la meme chose.
D I Wyman and Cathy...thanks for that.
You know, she's always had extremely big feet and they do swell up in hot weather. Is that where the mercury settled? Do you think I should have turned her upside down, and shaken her a bit more often?
She's 5'9'' and I'm only 5'2'', so It's too late to start now ;o(
Gillian...i can only suggest that you encourage her to do handstands against a wall when it is warm!
anywho glad to be of some help.
BTW,
Why doesn't Ritala Shah have the chance to blog for Saturday PM?
And where is her photo? OK, I know, we've just lost Lissa on the right hand side...
So, our Eddie's off to Manchester and Whitby in the next couple of weeks. I hope he takes his laptop again and entertains us from the train.
It strikes me that the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ is running very lean at the moment, what with Humphrys wandering between TV and radio, Eddie doubling for Jonners, varied voices on Wimmins Hour, Martha majoring on WatO, and Carolyn just being generally ubiquitous ...... Is the pension fund in trouble or something? (Oh no, that was Maxwell wasn't it - I'm mixing up my viewing with my listening)
Oh My what a Dilemma! - Yes poor old England and Wales were shunted down the running order - but only because Scotland (in all honesty) had two breaking stories?
I listened to some of the programme (lots of arrivals for Bank Hol) most of the first half - and found it very informative - in a round up of Scotland - as News 24 were dashing everywhere. Perhaps Richard (24) has a point though - in that a UK round-up for six or seven minutes would have been a better idea.
I really don't know. However I disagree with Richard on one point:- I don't see whay the population of Scotland should really be of importance?
Look at the population of the Falkland Islands!
Anyway late now - and I'm electioned out.
Missed the barometer bit but dying to 'listen again' - now that's right up my street :-)
Did everyone see Fearless Fred's parents dog now living a "Principality rather than a nation, just like Monaco but with nicer weather. ;o)"
He is here in Fido's corner - called Dougal
The 4th pic is him as an adult and the 5th as a pup :-)
Richard - perhaps we "flying kilts" don't give much regard to what goes on south of the border, but we don't feel the need to complain?
Oh, SSC (28), bit contentious, that; how do you define a nation? (con't'd p 94)
OK. A country, then?
Mae hen wlad fy nhadau...
Gwlad (come on, join in, you know you want to) GWLAAAAAAAAAD!
Wotevva
Did anyone catch 'The Reunion' - Wow, Radio 4 at it's very best. very powerful radio. Thank you.
Of course, it was 'the reunion' which cost PM the Gold for 'speech'. I agree it's a tremendous and effective use of a very simple, even banal idea.
Congratulations to them too!
xx
ed
OOOh! I've ejaculated prematurely again!
Yes Jonnie (38) I heard it too, excellent, very moving and skilfully handled.
Yes, Jonnie. It's one of my favourite programmes, and its award was well deserved.
We were listening to it in the car as we drove over to meet up with family. My SO, who doesn't do radio listening very well, was told by me ahead of the programme that this was something which promised to be extremely interesting and that he should try to focus on it. He did. Neither of us spoke throughout the whole 45 minutes. I couldn't speak for a full 5 minutes afterwards, and SO didn't say a word either.
We haven't discussed it since. I'd love to talk to somebody about it, but doubt I'll have the chance. So, for the record, I'll tell the blogosphere that I thought it exceptionally moving and in particular Ms Berry's contributions. I
Big Sis - I too have an SO who mostly lets Radio 4 drift through the background of his life, but he was spellbound and moved by this yesterday, and came to draw my attention to it.
Thank you to all concerned in the making of it.